Background

Mordecai is originally from Artemis, and at the age of 17, Mordecai won an interplanetary sharpshooting competition with a revolver. The other competitors, all of whom were using sniper rifles, accused him of cheating and eventually got him banned from the competition for "unsportsmanlike conduct," although many witnesses noted that he did not display any unsportsmanlike behavior until after the accusations began. He now travels from planet to planet with his trusty companion Bloodwing, searching for "everything this freaking universe owes me," which Mordecai has defined as a better gun and unlimited cash.

(Information taken from the Borderlands manual)

Involvement

Mordecai and Bloodwing in Borderlands 2

Mordecai, along with Roland, Brick, and Lilith, was a founding member of the Crimson Raiders. Between the events of Borderlands and Borderlands 2, Mordecai was involved with Moxxi, whom he won as a prize from the Underdome. Their relationship went sour, and Moxxi left him for Handsome Jack. He also becomes an alchoholic, and drinks even before fighting. When Hyperion attacked New Haven, Mordecai fought Wilhelm along with Lilith and Roland, but were easily defeated.

He learns of a Hyperion train convoy moving through the Tundra Express, supposedly carrying the Vault Key. Roland tells the Vault Hunters to meet him there, and he assists them by providing sniper fire. After Sanctuary's relocation, he heads to the Wildlife Exploitation Preserve to obtain a Claptrap software upgrade to bypass the deterrence field leading to the Bunker. Mordecai was overrun by Hyperion troops, and escaped after Bloodwing distracted them, but was taken to one of the facility's pens. The Vault Hunters manage to find her, but mutated after being subject to slag experimentation. They manage to weaken Bloodwing and retrieve the Claptrap upgrades, but Jack detonates her collar, killing her and sending Mordecai into a rage. He returns to Sanctuary after the events there.

Mordecai and Brick assume command of the Crimson Raiders after the loss of Roland and Lilith. When the Vault Hunters obtain the information on the Vault of the Warrior's location, he and Brick assist them in the first gauntlet of Hero's Path with a captured Hyperion drop barge, until it is targeted by a Moon Blitz. Against Mordecai's insistence, Brick jumps back onto the barge, which is then struck by the Blitz, sending them both crashing into the lava. Both of them manage to survive and make it to the Vault after Jack and the Warrior's defeat, and witness the activation of the map showing the locations of many other Vaults scattered throughout the universe. The sketches in the credits show Mordecai holding a Bloodwing hatchling. In Sir Hammerlock vs. the Son of Crawmerax, it is revealed that he named the hatchling "Talon", Mordecai also had quit drinking to raise him.

In Episode 3 of Tales from the Borderlands, Mordecai and Brick are hired by the gang lord Vallory to apprehend Athena, whom they learned was once allied with Handsome Jack. The two of them dueled with Athena and Fiona, and was almost defeated, had Vallory not interfered. After knocking Athena out with a rocket launcher, Vallory allowed the two Vault Hunters to take Athena back to Sanctuary.

In Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Mordecai is seen in the introduction scene with Brick limping away, after Lilith noted how it took the two to capture Athena. He is seen again in the final scene along with Brick, objecting to Lilith's order to execute Athena. Despite the objections, Lilith still orders the Crimson Raider soldiers to carry out the execution anyways; only to have the bullets stopped by The Watcher, who warns them that war is imminent and they need to start recruiting vault hunters.

Skills

Mordecai has a Bloodwing as a pet, a predatory avian that can be unleashed upon enemies to damage or kill them.

Bloodwing can be commanded to attack enemies and can be upgraded for increased damage and speed at higher levels. Bloodwing will attack any target bracketed in the crosshairs when he launches. If Bloodwing is blind-fired, he will seek out the nearest target in the general direction his master was facing in. Bloodwing's attack range is limited however, and more suitable to close combat conditions than for supporting long range sniping.

Bloodwing can be called back before the full duration of his flight expires. If he was called back before he attacked an enemy, he can be reused immediately. Otherwise his cooldown time will commence when the bird returns after a target has been struck.

Bloodwing will never attack the same target twice in a row. A useful tactic when using the Bird of Prey skill is when there are two enemies remaining, Bloodwing will constantly alternate between the two targets until he reached his target limit. This is especially useful when Crimson Lance Engineers send out their Scorpio turret, which qualifies as an enemy; Bloodwing will then alternate between the Engineer and the turret.

Class Mods

Strategy

Mordecai's starting weapon

Mordecai's play style is that of a sharpshooter. He is well suited for ranged combat, being able to have improved accuracy and dealing the most damage with well placed critical hits. Based on how his skill points are distributed, he is also able to do high damage with other guns, though most of his skills lead to a preference of sniper rifles and pistols. His melee weapon is a sword, which can also be a tool of great harm. All of these advantages come at the expense of his own durability under fire. Mordecai's active ability calls his bloodwing, a red-eyed alien bird that can be a very helpful companion in the search for the Vault.

His three skill trees are Sniper, which increases his skills with sniper rifles as well as group experience bonuses and accuracy; Rogue, which mainly focuses on increasing the potency of his Bloodwing as well as gaining loot; and Gunslinger, which improves his usage of pistols, as well as his melee weapon. Playing Mordecai involves making extra use of shields and evasive maneuvers, more than any of the other classes. Fighting in close quarters and boss battles can be difficult, while many fights in open areas will be much easier.

Bloodwing Tips

Bloodwing can be launched immediately before entering a vehicle and it will continue to follow until the skill timer expires. It will attack enemies near the vehicle as Bird of Prey permits.

Bloodwing can become entangled on obstacles, so some care should be taken to ensure it has clear air when launched and called back.

Bloodwing can be recalled by pressing the action skill button, returning before the skill duration expires, and interrupting it from attacking any additional targets with Bird of Prey. This can be useful if the health return from Out For Blood is urgently needed.

Health returned from Out For Blood occurs when the Bloodwing returns, rather than when it strikes.

Bloodwing's Aerial Impact skill combined with Bird of Prey can be useful for getting past areas unharmed, when speed is preferable over combat. Dazed enemies will have trouble hitting targets, making them easier to run past.

Bloodwing will only attack enemies that are visible to Mordecai. He will only circle above Mordecai if the hunter is running away or hiding behind cover.

Bloodwing can be targeted on a specific enemy. He will prioritise his attack on the enemy that Mordecai has bracketed in his sights.

The Predator skill can make Bloodwing come back in 13 seconds. It is also possible to find a class mod that adds four more points to the Predator skill, reducing Bloodwing's recharge time to as little as a second. Combined with the Bird of Prey and Aerial Impact skill, Bloodwing can become Mordecai's primary mode of attack.

Bloodwing is the only action skill that will not be cancelled if the character becomes crippled. This means that if Bloodwing is in flight before Mordecai is crippled, it is possible for Bloodwing to damage or kill enemies for a Second Wind. Bloodwing can even attack before the bleedout timer starts, avoiding short bleed out times if needed.

Mordecai's sniper rifle is charged with Slag and causes a Slag explosion when it impacts either a surface or an enemy. In A Train to Catch, his vantage point is in the middle of the map which gives him a clear view of the whole area. In Wildlife Preservation, he is positioned in an area known as Casa de Mordecai, he first snipes from the cave when vault hunters' at the entrance, and moved to the top during the fight in Observation Wing. In The Talon of God, he snipes from a Hyperion barge stolen by Brick, giving him a mobile vantage point. His sniper rifle appears to become charged with explosives after Bloodwing dies.

"I'm not making enough to watch you fall on your face all day. Get up!"

Spotting items

"Nice! Check that out!"

"Well shit, look at that!"

"Look at this!"

Trivia

Mordecai's old character design

Pre-release Mordecai along side pre-release Roland

Mordecai's character model prior to the game's release was much beefier looking when compared to the final design. Reaver uses this older character model. [1]

According to his profile Mordecai is colorblind, and dislikes eating. He is also stated to be 39, though it is unknown if this is before or after the skip to Borderlands 2.

Mordecai as a child

In The Secret Armory of General Knoxx, his wanted poster states his bounty is $1,000,000.00 for "Poaching and possession of an endangered species", and in red handwritten text at the bottom, "another million for that annoying bird". This makes his bounty the second-highest (assuming Bloodwing is killed) of the original Vault Hunters, being beaten out by Brick.

In Borderlands 2, Handsome Jack revises this bounty to be "six billion for the bird, twenty bucks for the has-been".

Mordecai is compared to a Truxican Wrestler at the start of the game when Marcus says, "You there, with the sniper rifle and the crazy mask? You look like a Truxican Wrestler moonlighting as a dominatrix, man!" "Truxican Wrestler" appears to be a play on the words, "Mexican wrestler," as Mexican wrestlers wear matching masks and suits, not too dissimilar to Mordecai's. The name also appears on a melee orientated class mod.

General Knoxx makes a comment on Mordecai on his Twitter account: "troops will deploy today if all goes to plan. just met a man named mord-ee-kai. dude, eat something", referencing Mordecai's rather thin build.